Week 7 Review: One Best Thing - Photography Inspired Writing
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I struggled to choose just one iBook from the series One Best Thing, which is a collection of books put together by Apple’s Distinguished Educators. This is the description included in the beginning of the iBook I finally selected, “Each One Best Thing book shares a unit, a lesson, or a best practice and is designed to help another educator implement a successful practice. It’s a professional learning idea championed by an educator––in word and action––that others can look to for ideas and tips on how to replicate.”
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I settled on the iBook Photography-Inspired Writing: Using iOS Photography to Inspire Struggling Writers by ADE Jim Harmon (also on Twitter as @jimharmon). I was drawn to this topic because journalism and English, my two focuses, depend heavily on knowing how to guide beginners through photography and various writing genres. My favorite thing about the iBook is that this idea of using photos and visual art as a springboard can be used throughout an entire year or even as just a short in-class brainstorming exercise. Although Jim carefully and thoroughly explains his own process and intentions, complete with student examples and the apps he uses, the idea is relatively open-ended and can be molded to suit a variety of purposes.
The two aspects of the iBook that really persuaded me that this is an incredibly worthwhile approach to writing, were the student examples and the “Elicitation questions for reluctant writers.” I honestly wasn’t initially convinced that students would take such a project seriously or produce particularly original writing, but I was happily stunned by the results Harmon included. They all wrote, in some way or another, about what keeps them in school and the struggles they face. The photos and explanations were downright heartbreaking in several cases. I would probably require more writing, especially analysis of the pictures, but overall I was very impressed.
The five Elicitation Questions also struck a chord with me:
-Describe what you see in this image.
-What is the significance of [select a person or thing from the photograph to discuss]?
-What is your favorite part of this photograph and why?
-What were you trying to say when you took this picture?
-What do you think others will see in this image?
These require students to explain personal significance and exactly what they hope to get across to their viewers. I also think it’s important to teach students to consider how their viewers may look at their projects, whether the result is intentional or not. The ability to take a step back and see their work objectively is an important part of both writing and photography that will help enormously in the revision process.
The five Elicitation Questions also struck a chord with me:
-Describe what you see in this image.
-What is the significance of [select a person or thing from the photograph to discuss]?
-What is your favorite part of this photograph and why?
-What were you trying to say when you took this picture?
-What do you think others will see in this image?
These require students to explain personal significance and exactly what they hope to get across to their viewers. I also think it’s important to teach students to consider how their viewers may look at their projects, whether the result is intentional or not. The ability to take a step back and see their work objectively is an important part of both writing and photography that will help enormously in the revision process.